Trade war hits U.S. farm export prices
WASHINGTON -- Prices for U.S. farm exports dropped in July by the most in more than six years as a trade war with China heated up, Labor Department figures showed Tuesday.
Agricultural export prices fell 5.3 percent from the previous month, the biggest drop since October 2011, as soybean prices plummeted 14.1 percent. Export prices for corn, wheat, fruits and nuts also slumped in July. The overall export price index dropped 0.5 percent, the most since May 2017, the department said. The figures exclude the price effect from any tariffs.
China in July imposed 25 percent tariffs on American soybeans and also targeted other farm goods in retaliation for U.S. duties on a range of merchandise. The world's biggest buyer of soybeans has shunned U.S. supplies amid the escalating trade conflict, threatening to curb exports after the harvest.
The report also showed that import prices were unchanged from the previous month, matching the median estimate of economists. Prices were up 4.8 percent from a year earlier, the biggest advance since 2012, driven by a 40.7 percent rise in fuel import prices.
-- Bloomberg News
Coca-Cola to buy stake in sports drink
ATLANTA -- Coca-Cola Co.'s agreement to buy a stake in Kobe Bryant-endorsed sports-drink maker Bodyarmor is a blow to Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. It's not very good news for PepsiCo Inc.'s Gatorade, either, analysts said.
Coca-Cola said Tuesday that the deal includes a path to full ownership. The move could help boost the Atlanta-based drink-maker's presence in the sports beverage market. Coca-Cola's Powerade currently lags Gatorade.
Bodyarmor is "one of the most exciting and fastest growing brands in the sports drink category," Wells Fargo analyst Bonnie Herzog said in a note to clients.
The move is a blow for Keurig Dr Pepper, which owns a smaller stake in Bodyarmor, RBC analyst Nik Modi wrote. The writing was already on the wall for that partnership: When Keurig acquired Dr Pepper Snapple in July, Bodyarmor ended its distribution agreement with Keurig Dr Pepper. And now, Bodyarmor's moving to Coke's bottling system, Herzog said.
It's a lost opportunity for Keurig Dr Pepper to expand its influence in the sports-drink market, resulting in the loss of "its biggest and most important allied brand," Barclays analyst Lauren Rae Lieberman said. The deal is likely to "have a material impact" on Keurig Dr Pepper's growth, she added.
-- Bloomberg News
Texas ranchers reduce herds in drought
DALLAS -- A growing number of Texas ranchers and farmers are trimming their livestock, or selling them altogether, as a persistent drought has eliminated water supplies and forage for the animals.
The U.S. Drought Monitor shows that 45 percent of Texas is contending with drought conditions that are severe or worse. Ranchers describe land bare of grass, bales of hay that are either too expensive or hard to come by, and stock tanks that have long run dry.
Josh Blanek, with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service in Tom Green County, says ranchers and farmers in his region are reducing their herds by at least 25 percent.
Oklahoma officials, meanwhile, say they haven't seen the kind of liquidation of cattle that's happening in Texas. Spring rains saved some wheat harvests and boosted grassland there.
-- The Associated Press
Southwest revises support-animal limit
DALLAS -- Southwest Airlines will limit customers to only one dog or cat as an emotional-support animal, changing its policy after a biting incident on a flight.
The carrier follows larger rivals that had altered policies for animals on board as numbers soared for passengers claiming they rely on them. Problems with animals, including a child nipped on a Southwest plane, also have climbed, as have the types of creatures brought on aircraft.
Effective Sept. 17, Southwest will limit emotional-support animals to dogs or cats, and one per person. The animals must remain in a carrier or on a leash, and owners must present a current letter from a medical doctor or licensed mental-health professional on the day of the flight, the Dallas-based airline said in a statement Tuesday.
Beyond emotional-support animals, only dogs, cats and, on occasion, miniature horses will be allowed as psychiatric-support animals, Southwest said. They must be individually trained to perform a task or work for a person with mental-health disability.
The airline won't allow unusual or exotic animals on board.
-- Bloomberg News
Home Depot profit soars in strong 2Q
ATLANTA -- Home Depot handily beat expectations during the second quarter, bouncing back from a slow start to the year when terrible weather cooled construction projects. The world's biggest home-improvement retailer boosted its full-year profit and revenue forecasts Tuesday.
Higher mortgage rates combined with steadily rising real estate prices have dampened home sales this summer despite the robust economy and job market, but Americans continue to plow money into the places where they live.
The Atlanta company's second-quarter profit hit $3.51 billion, or $3.05 per share. That's a much bigger per-share profit than the $2.84 that Wall Street was looking for, according to analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.
Revenue rose to $30.46 billion, from $28.11 billion, also topping projections of $29.98 billion on Wall Street.
Sales at stores open at least a year, a key indicator of a retailer's performance, surged 8 percent, and 8.1 percent in the U.S.
Home Depot said that big-ticket sales -- now being defined as transactions over $1,000 -- represent about 20 percent of the chain's U.S. sales. It had previously defined big-ticket sales as transactions over $900.
-- The Associated Press
Uber names new chief security officer
SAN FRANCISCO -- In November, Uber's new chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, penned an apologetic note to riders and drivers explaining that hackers had obtained 57 million personal records from the ride-hailing company -- and rather than disclosing the breach immediately, the company had paid the hackers $100,000 to keep quiet.
Khosrowshahi, who said the breach and payouts happened before he arrived, fired Uber's chief security officer, Joe Sullivan, for his handling of the matter.
On Tuesday, Uber announced that the company had found Sullivan's replacement: Matt Olsen, the former general counsel of the National Security Agency and director of the National Counterterrorism Center. Olsen was most recently the president and chief revenue officer at IronNet Cybersecurity, a consultancy he co-founded with Gen. Keith Alexander, the agency's former director.
Olsen joins Uber as it is trying to repair the reputation of its security team. In addition to the data breach, Uber's practice of routinely surveilling its competitors physically and online came under scrutiny in federal court when Uber was being sued for trade secret theft by Waymo, the autonomous-driving car company owned by Google's parent company, Alphabet.
-- The New York Times
Business on 08/15/2018